God’s Masterpiece: The Final Stitch (Part V)

Sermon Title: God’s Masterpiece: The Final Stitch

Good News Statement: God knitted us together

Preached: Sunday, October 01^st, 2023, at Dogwood Prairie and Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): Ephesians 4:11-16– Today’s Scripture reading comes from Paul’s epistle to the people of Ephesus. After calling attention toward the power of one, Paul then makes a bold claim that—even though we have been created with different tasks and purposes—we are all knit together in the body of Christ. Together we receive the Paul’s words in Ephesians chapter four verses eleven thru sixteen as a blessing upon our discipleship.

¹¹ He himself granted that some are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. ¹⁴ We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming; ¹⁵ but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

 

Introduction:

Today, I want to talk about knitting. In a New York Times article from 2018, Alanna Okun encourages people to give knitting a chance. However, she points to the fact that there are a few reasons for why people try, fail, and never try again. She states, “One reason new knitters give up is that projects can sometimes drag on.” People tend to think that knitting a project happens over the span of just a few hours or even a few days. Also, she says “Accept that it’s O.K. to be bad at something when you’re first starting out.”^[i] Knitting does not come natural to everyone: most of the time what people see in their mind is not what is produced the first time or even the second time or even the third time; and the pattern that they choose to follow looks simple until they begin stitching. Knitting requires determination, motivation, and perseverance.

Have any of you ever tried to take up knitting, or sewing, or even quilting? I haven’t, but it’s something that I’d like to try my hand at someday. I remember in the eighth grade I had to sew a simple-draw-string-bag: it looked simple, but it was not simple. You had to make sure that you were able to control the speed of the sowing machine, pray that your thread didn’t get tangled up around the bobbin, remember to turn the bag inside out when sewing on the pocket, turn it right side out to saw the strap, make sure the stitches were straight, and make sure you knew where your fingers were at all times. There was nothing simple about sewing a simple-draw-string-bag! But I did it; and it looked like a bag.

A few months ago, in early Spring, I took my mom to the quilting store in town. My mom isn’t quilter but she has sown a few things during her life time and has an eye for detail and craftiness. We walked into the store, overwhelmed but in awe of the beautiful quilts and patterns that hung from the walls and were folded up on shelves. Some were displayed on tables dispersed throughout the store. Some of the quilts in the store left us speechless—no word could adequately describe the beauty of what we saw. We spent a few hours in the store and we looked at every quilt and pattern, and thought to ourselves that someday we might be able to sew a quilt. One day, we will be able to knit pieces of fabric together to create one large masterpiece.

As I think about that experience along with my eighth grade simple-draw-string-bag, I catch myself thinking about the words of the Apostle Paul who shared with the people of Ephesus, “from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:16). Paul is calling the people of Ephesus and us today to think about how we have been knitted into God’s quilt, into God’s tapestry, into God’s masterpiece called life. God has taken each of us—our good and bad, our ups and downs, our forgiveness and our sins, our acceptance and our disproval, and our joy and our pain—created a pattern, and sewn us into His quilt. But do we know we have a place on God’s quilt? Do you know that God wants to incorporate your pattern into His tapestry? Do you realize that without you, God’s masterpiece is incomplete?

Today we conclude our sermon series, “God’s Masterpiece,” by sewing everything together and reminding ourselves that we are part of God’s masterpiece.

Body:

For the past few weeks we have been observing different handmade and hand drawn pieces of art by which have all challenged us to think about who we are in God’s masterpiece. We began by examining what is called “God’s Eye.” From this craft we learned that God’s eyes are penetrating—they see our secrets, our needs, our prayers, our pains, sorrows, and disappointments, and our joys, excitements, and praises. They see us for who we are and who we ought to be: “for nothing is hidden” from the eyes of God (Hebrews 4:13). We also learned that God’s eyes are precious: they offer a sense of care, support, and protection. Through God’s precious eyes we are loved. Lastly, we took note that God’s eyes are providential meaning that God will instruct us and teach us and show us where to go and what to do.

Then we observed a treasure chest filled with tiny “gold pieces.” From that treasure chest we were challenged to think about Jesus’ words to his disciples, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). We asked ourselves, “What is in our treasure chest? Why have we put what we put inside that treasure chest?” God doesn’t want us to store earthly things in heaven, but store things of our heart in heaven.

Next, we, from a small pillow, were reminded of how we are to incorporate rest into our daily routine. God created rest and rested on the seventh day from all His works (Genesis 2:2-3). In the Gospels, we are taught that Jesus, not only took moments to rest, by used rest to center his prayers, to teach those around him, to create boundaries, to process his emotions, and to encourage people to get away to a “deserted place all by themselves and rest a while.” If we don’t rest, then we cannot fully be who God has called us to be and we certainly can’t do what God is calling us to do. We need rest in our life.

Lastly, we looked out a self-portrait of the artist herself. In this portrait, we saw that it was divided in half: on one side the artist drew half of her face in black and white; on the other side, the artist has vibrantly depicted things and sayings that represent who she is—there is a bottle of Sprite which has spilled out an imitation of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” art supplies bursting out of a zippered headband, a flower resting behind a rainbow, a butterfly basking in the warmth of the sun, a hot-air-balloon floating in the background, a tractor and barn and corn outline the artists face as a figure fishes from her nose , and sayings such as “Love and Peace” and “Be Happy” add words to this artists description of herself. From this self-portrait, and much like John the Baptist (John 1:19-28), we were called to answer the question “Who Am I? and How does God see me?”

It’s fascinating to realize that crafts made to keep children busy actually provide us with life lessons that motivate us to be a better disciple today than what we were yesterday. So, how will you remember that God is watching over you? What are you placing in your treasure chest today so that it will be in heaven tomorrow? How are practicing rest in your life? And who do you see when you look into a mirror? Now, we stich everything together into God’s quilt.

Paul begins the fourth chapter of his letter to the people of Ephesus by calling attention to the fact that he identifies himself as a “prisoner in the Lord” (Ephesians 4:1). This description brings to mind that he has been called to serve the Lord, his God, with his whole heart, mind, body, and soul—much like we are called to do as disciples of Jesus Christ. Then, he begs the people to walk “in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…” (Ephesians 4:1-3). Paul is calling the people of Ephesus to a moment of unity in the Holy Spirit. He wants the people, he begs the people, to be united, to be knitted together, in all that they do and say for the sake of walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

From this unity, Paul invites us to witness the oneness of this unity. Paul states in Ephesians 4:4-6, “there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” We are one body living in the one Spirit, seeking the one hope of our calling, so that we may live with the one Lord, one God and Father, so that our one baptism strengthens our one faith. Even before Paul states that we are knitted together, Paul, a prisoner of the Lord, is calling us to oneness and unity—to be part of God’s single quilt of creation. God’s quilt is an invitation, a call to get involved, and plea to increase.

Invitation: Needless to say though, Paul knows that our oneness comes in many professions; and from these many professions we are invited to be sewn into God’s quilt. In order for us to be knit together in God’s quilt, first we must be invited. Jesus invites us with these words, “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). “He has a kingdom and He invites humanity to come into His kingdom.” This kingdom is composed of “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, [who have been called] to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…” (Ephesians 4:11-12). Being invited into God’s kingdom is to know that God has given you specific tasks, specific skills, and specific purposes to help increase God’s quilt. God’s quilt is composed of many people, from many places, and from many tasks that come together as one to equip others for the work of ministry. God’s quilt, by invitation, resembles the building up of the body of Christ.

Being invited, to have our lives knit together in God’s quilt is an act of grace. This grace is what goes with us and before us to prepare the way of the Lord, to invite others to join us, and to establish unity of the “faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” (Ephesians 4:13). This invitation is the understanding that we, sinful and imperfect as we are, have been asked by the Most Holy and Perfect Lord of all creation to be incorporated into His quilt. We are invited—whether apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, farmers, students, shift workers, and anything else—to be part of God’s quilt.

Involved: Second, in order to be knit together in God’s quilt, we must be involved in each other’s lives. We must be willing to take note of the other people, the patterns, that surround us. Paul notes, “[S]peaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16). As a church, as a congregation, we are disjointed without each other! Without each other our church quilt is incomplete. According to Stanley Grenz, “Church exists whenever believers join together with the purpose of walking with one another as God’s people, under Christ’s authority, and by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.” The Body of Christ suffers without us being intimately involved in the lives of one another. When our lives are knit together, as a church, we fully become the body of Christ here on earth. St. Teresa of Avila wrote, concerning the earthly body of Christ: “Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which He looks, Compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His body. Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

As the earthly body of Christ, each and every one of us promotes the growth of the church by sharing the good news, living out the word of Christ, listening to the needs of those in the pews and in the community, and be willing to notice those who are stitched next to us in God’s quilt. To be part of God’s quilt means to be involved in the body of Christ here on earth and be the body of Christ here on earth. As a church we are the body of Christ joined and knit together, promoting the growth of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We are the hands, feet, eyes, and body of Christ on earth.

As the church we are involved in God’s quilt. Paul shares with the people of Colossae, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:14-17). We are involved in God’s quilt: bringing peace, love, perfect harmony, and gratitude towards those around us as we teach and admonish them in all wisdom. Be involved in God’s quilt so that the quilt of the church, the body of Christ, can continue to grow. Notice the people around you.

Increase: Third, by getting involved in the quilt of God, we find ourselves growing the church. A few miles from here, hanging in the fellowship hall, Bethany Church has on display a quilt that depicts the people of the church; and over the years, the quilt has grown as the church has grown. More squares have been added, stories have been told, memories have been shared, and lives have been impacted. That quilt represents the lives of the church and the life-journey of the church. My grandma had a similar quilt. On the quilt, each family was designated a square; and in each square were anniversary dates, birth dates, drawings, sayings, and so much more. For Bethany Church and my grandma, their quilt was more than a quilt: it was a masterpiece showing the love and growth of the church and of a family. We are called to grow God’s quilt—to add more squares and patterns.

Here’s the reality, a quilt doesn’t make itself. It takes thread, needles, fabric, ideas, patience, and someone or multiple people to make it. God’s quilt needs you to help make it. He has equipped you—given you tools, lessons, teachings, wisdom, scripture, and a heart of love guided by faith and grace. But even with those things we still need help. You need other people to come alongside of you and share your life. It’s the way that we are designed. Look at what happened to the church in Acts when their hearts were knit together for the sake of the Gospel. They shared everything, they worshipped together, they ate together, they were in each other’s houses—this goes back to what I said about the need to invite others into our community and to allow them to be involved in our lives. What happened as a result is that “…the Lord [increased] the church daily [with] those who were being saved.” 3000 at one time and another 5000 at a different time, “…the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.”

God needs us to keep quilting so that the church will increase. But we can’t do it alone. I can’t do it alone. We need each other: we need each other’s presence, encouragement, strength, wisdom, tools, patience, guidance, and most importantly, we need to know that we are here for each other and that our church is the place where we want to see growth take place. How are you going to keep the church’s quilt growing? How are we going to create a future where we need to add more stitches, to expand and grow our quilt?

Conclusion:

I conclude with this story from a sermon preached at a funeral reflecting on the author’s mother: “Each quilt that Mom finished carried a piece of her life with it….I think she saw her quilts as her legacy and that was why she was so intent on creating one for each of us. But Mom’s legacy as a quilter extends far beyond her quilts.”

“Let me describe the quilting process for those who are unfamiliar with it. The quilter takes small scraps of cloth, which might otherwise find no purpose, and sews them together into patterns of varying degrees of complexity. The completed pattern is then sewn onto cotton batting stretched across a quilt frame, where the stitches themselves become a work of art in a second pattern. The finished piece then becomes a cover for a bed, a throw for a sofa, or a work of art.”

“Mom was a quilter not just of cloth, however, but of our lives. She took pieces of herself and embroidered them into the lives of everyone she touched. Yet she neither intended nor understood that she was doing so. She was just being herself. But in being herself, she wove herself into so many lives and lived for all of us the example of a true Christian life.”[ii]

We end our sermon series by stitching everything together. Everything God stitches together has a purpose, even those wasteful scraps that we don’t want anymore. Sewn into God’s quilt are His precious eyes, the treasures of our heart, the rest that we seek, and an image of who God has created us to be. Sewn in God’s quilt is our life journey, our own pattern, and it sits next to someone else’s pattern. Sewn in God’s quilt is His unconditional love which holds everything together. Sewn in God’s quilt is the story of our church—where it was, where it is, and where it is going. Sewn in God’s quilt is who He has called you to be, where He has called you to go, and who He has called you to listen to. Sewn in God’s quilt is everything that we need to be the disciple and church that He needs us to be. God has woven himself into our life and into our church.

God’s quilt is more than simple patterns sewn together: it is everything we can ask for and more. With this quilt, we are invited to incorporate our own life, we are encouraged to get involved, and we are called to increase the size of the quilt. Most people like to look at quilts but not everyone wants to be a quilter. God needs us to look and to do the work. But are you willing to do the work—to add more patterns to the quilt? His quilt isn’t finished yet; your quilt isn’t done yet; and the quilt of this church isn’t completed. There is still material out there waiting to be added? So I hope you are ready to do some sewing! Let it be so…

 

Communion Transition:

In a filthy, borrowed, upper room in Jerusalem, Jesus invited his disciples to become sewers. He gave them the pattern—his body and his blood—so that they would be able to add more patterns to his quilt. As we gather around this table may we be encouraged to do the same—to ask the Lord to add more patterns to our church quilt and to add more patterns to the quilt of God. May we seek forgiveness and find salvation at this table today as we are sewn into the quilt of God…

           

Benediction:

This week, I encourage you to really think about the quilts that you have or have seen. Think about how they remind us of God’s growing kingdom on earth and how we are called to be the hands, feet, eyes, mouth, and body of Christ on earth as we do the work to add more patterns to the quilt of life. May the Lord bless you this week in many ways and may he hear your prayers and assure you amazing grace and a blessed assurance knowing that you are part of His masterpiece. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, go out into the world seeking ways to live out God’s masterpiece. And all of God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

 

[i] (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/smarter-living/how-to-start-knitting.html).

[ii] https://thesermoncloset.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/the-quilter/